Warren Buffett told CNBC this afternoon that he thinks current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke should keep his hands on the job for another term. Buffett said that the economy of the United States is continuing to just “creep along,” and Ben Bernanke is the best man to pick up recovery given his performance over the last five years.
These comments come the day after Ben Bernanke revealed that the Federal Reserve would continue to buy bonds at the same rate for at least another month. The chairman of the central bank said that the economy of the United States, and particularly the labor market, are not yet strong enough to justify winding the program down.
Fed chair trauma
Ben Bernanke is expected to step down as the head of the Federal Reserve in the first week of 2014. The front runner to replace him is Fed vice chair Janet Yellen. Until earlier this week Larry Summers was the front runner, but he dropped out of the race. There is a certain amount of uncertainty around the handover, which is shaking the markets.
Buffett doesn’t think the QE program is harming the economy, but he doesn’t think it’s helped as much as Mr. Bernanke expected. Regardless, Buffett thinks that Bernanke should be retained as the chairman of the bank. “When you have a .400 hitter in the lineup you don’t take him out,” Buffett told CNBC.
Bernanke is the right man to have at the Fed: Buffett
Buffett said that he has no second choice for the post, even though he acknowledges there is little chance of the current chairman staying at the bank for another term. Buffett is confident that Bernanke is the right man to have at the Fed, even though the cairman has been facing criticism from both sides of the political aisle for the recent actions of the Fed.
Left leaning politicians do not agree with the asset buying program that has propped up Wall Street while the rest of the United States deals with job losses and other problems. Conservatives are angry about the program which has been seen as a project to undermine the currency of the United States.
